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"My Cheapskate Parents Experience"

I got an email from a babysitter about her experience last week.  I can't believe this one.  She wrote:

"Last week I babysat for a family that originally asked me to come at 6:30pm.  At 6:15pm, just when I was about to leave, the dad texted me asking me to come at 7pm.  So, I replied saying that it was fine.  I got there, played with the kids, put them to bed, and hung out until the parents got home.  The parents got home at 9:20 and only paid me from 7-9:20. This made me SO angry since they asked me 15 minutes before I was supposed to be there to come 30 minutes later.  They should have paid me from the original time.  And the fact that they only paid until 9:20, not 9:30 just makes me sick.  Help me, Hoboken Nanny!"

So, girl, I am so disgusted by people like this.  This has happened to me in the past and I never worked for them again.  I do not have time for people who treat me like the help.  And either should you.  You are their babysitter and if they don't respect your life and time, then you should stop working for them.  

It is disrespectful for parents to ask to come later and not pay from the original time.  Parents, does it ever occur to you that your Nanny and Babysitter are accepting the job to watch your kids because they need the money?  We don't make millions.  If you tell your Babysitter to come at 6:30 and then you decide for him or her to come later, stop being a cheap ass and pay from the earlier time.  

That is disgusting.  

And seriously people, stop paying in 5, 10, 15 minute increments.  You pay by the half hour.  Our time is valuable.  Your salaried job isn't paid like that and ours isn't either.  

Do.The.Right.Thing.  Treat your Nanny and Babysitter the right way.

I Have a Request...

Parents, if you're going to have chips in your apartment, can you please make sure you have some salsa or dip.  I get hungry and would like some dip with my chips.  

Thanks and much love, 

Hoboken Nanny

PS- maybe you can leave me money for dinner instead of dip.  But either would be great!
 PPS- I love Ruffles and Cheetos.  

Open Door Policy

Here's a topic that I have been meaning to write about and has slipped my mind until I do it again, which is about 7 times a day.  Peeing and pooping with the door open.(No, I don't poop 7 times a day, but you get the gist.)

Nannies, do you do this?  Because I do.  I take care of an older kid and a baby, so I have to keep the door open to hear/see what is always going on.  And then of course I think about a Nanny Cam and whether or not this family has one while I'm pooping with the door open.  

But Parents, does it weird you out knowing that I poop and pee with the door open just to make sure your kids are ok?  Would you prefer I didn't?    

It doesn't bother me to have kids walking and crawling in and out, but I keep the door open because I care about the safety of the kids.  I also worry that a neighbor sees me pooping and peeing, but that doesn't bother me as much as if something were to happen to the kids.  

So does anyone else do this?  And Parents, do you care that I do this?

Sorry, I know this whole post is TMI but in Hoboken, we live closely and why not know!

The Hoboken Favor

Being a Nanny, I do a lot of stuff for the Parents that I shouldn't. I know that if I didn't work in Hoboken, I wouldn't have to deal with grocery deliveries, missed packages, or even a milk run to the bodega next door.  I guess since I'm around all day with the kids, I have to do these things.  

But let me tell you. I do not enjoy doing these things. 

Why would I want to unpack YOUR groceries or wait around all day for a package that you should have sent to YOUR office.  I was hired to be a Nanny, not a house manager.  If you want me to be a house manager, I want a salary of at least $120k and a vacation home in the Bahamas.  

Please do me a favor: when I do YOUR favors, acknowledge how helpful I am. If I go above and beyond, buy me a gift card to DD or just tell me how much you appreciate me. Since you make me stay at home with two kids on a gorgeous fall day, I would love to hear how grateful you are of me for waiting and unpacking. 

Is that so difficult?

Stupid Parents

In past years, I would occasionally babysit for another family on weekends.  And because it was a weekend, the parents would offer me wine and beer.  While I appreciate the fact that they felt comfortable with me having a glass of wine, I always felt that it was inappropriate.  I was working so therefore, why would I drink?  If I wanted to drink, I wouldn't have been babysitting and instead, I would be getting trashed on Washington Street.  

I know that parents drink, but the point is, parents CAN drink because it's their kids.  Also, why would I risk having a drink on the job?  I mean, can you imagine if there was a Nanny Cam?  Do you even realize what a parent can do with that video?  I can see the headlines now "Babysitter drinking on the job!"  

Yes, just what I need.  

Nannies, have you ever been offered alcohol on the job?  Did you drink it? 

PESKY NEIGHBORS

I absolutely cannot stand when neighbors get in my biz.  We live in a community where we live on top of each other.  That's Hoboken.  Especially the building that I work in, it's kind of like Maxwell Place, but it's not Maxwell Place.  It's a huge apartment building where everyone knows everyone and if your baby is crying, then the neighbors on all angle's know.  

I have ears for crying.  I don't jump the second the baby bumps his head. I sleep train by letting him cry.  If he cries it's because he is hungry, teething, or cranky.  Otherwise, he's a very happy baby.  

Insert annoying as hell neighbors.  The neighbor mother is a SAHM and hears a pin drop.  I am a wonderful Nanny and have nothing to hide.  Lately, the parents that I work with have been telling me how their neighbor makes comments about the kids under my care.  "Oh he was really loud today" or "I heard jumping."  Uhh, yeah, they are kids, idiot.  I dance with the boys while we listen to music and sing together.  But, also, they are kids.  What do you expect?  I don't use pacifiers, I let the baby cry.  

This makes me think of one thing: do the parents that I Nanny for ask their neighbor to keep an ear out?  

Parents, have you done this?  Email me at HobokeNannySpy@gmail.com or comment below!  

WEST INDIAN STROLLER MAFIA IN CHURCH SQUARE PARK

As I was playing in Church Square Park yesterday, (and this isn't the first time I noticed) I was trying to understand why these Nannies just plop themselves down and don't move for the entire afternoon. They sit in the toddler park across from O'Nieals. Most of them are West Indian, with an Asian woman in there, too.  They bring everything that they need for the day(I hope) and make that their place for eating, napping, pooping, and playing.  

Parents, do you know this?  Do you realize that your kid sleeps in a stroller all day?  And are you okay with this?  

It seems like all these Nannies are friends, so if one has to go to the bathroom, another Nanny supposedly watches the kid.  I think that is the worst idea in the world.  Just leaving a child with a random stranger. 

I didn't see any single one of these Nannies, and there were about 7-8 of them, up and playing with their charges.  All were sitting on the equipment or ground.  

NOT GOOD!